


Strange Dream

by darknessinastateofmind



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Marigold (Cruelty), Round Eight: The Farewell Tour, The Language of Flowers, Tumblr: promptsinpanem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 08:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5085619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessinastateofmind/pseuds/darknessinastateofmind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peeta’s first tracker-jacker induced hallucination does not go entirely as President Snow planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This was my PIP submission for Round Eight: The Farewell Tour.

_“I’ve brought you a treat. I found a new patch of berries a little farther downstream.“ Katniss’ smile is earnest and her voice sweet. Peeta opens his mouth obediently as mouth after mouth goes down. When the last berry is eaten, she leans back and smirks._

_“I’d forgotten how gullible you were!”_

_He scrunches his brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”_

_She sighs, her shiny, owlish eyes blinking innocently at him. “The berries weren’t ‘sugar berries’. They were poisonous. I imagine in a few minutes, you’ll be dead!” Her pretty lips twist into a smirk and she chuckles gleefully to herself._

_“Wh-what?” He chokes out and immediately tries to make himself retch._

_She casually leans forward and pinches his nose and mouth shut, effectively stopping his induced vomiting and airflow. He can’t breath now, and already his mind is foggy from lack of oxygen and the poison. His vision is tripling and doubling and his hands are shaking, but he still tries to pull at her tight grip._

_“S…. sttt-o…p,” he whimpers. Her grin only widens – she’s enjoying this._

_“I really wish I didn’t have to do this, but I have to go home to Prim. If you really love me, you’d let me kill you. I can’t be happy unless I’m with Prim, even if that means being without you. Stop struggling, Peeta, I_ don’ _t want to use the knife.”_

_“Th-th-is… this… issss…n’t you…”_

_The grip on his mouth and nose loosens. “Of course it’s me. Didn’t you hear what I said?”_

_Oxygen floods his lungs and he almost chokes on it. “Y-you’re… not like… th-iis. You’re k-kindd. And stro-nngg… and beautifuuull.” The world tilts and he’s thirty feet above the ground._

_The last thing he sees are her gray eyes, no longer shiny, looking sort of sad._

_Then, black._

***

Dr. Octavian Ivory jots down a few notes as Peeta thrashes and shakes. He peers at the screen above the boy, which shows the hallucinations going on in his head. Things seem to be going smooth. The fear mixed with the tracker-jacker venom and that cave scene clip from the games really does work.

It had taken quite a few beatings and electric shocks to evoke as much fear in the boy as the president saw fit. Perhaps it was too much for his already-weak body, but fear and enough of it was an important factor. Some part of him thought about stopping the venom for the day and continuing the “treatment” tomorrow, but fear of President Snow’s wrath immediately quenched the thought.

“Is it working?” The man in question appears a few moments later. Octavian tries not to gag when he smells the over-powering stench of fresh roses.

“Yes, President Snow.” Octavian replies. Suddenly, something on the screen catches his eye. The girl was loosening her grip on the boy’s mouth and nose. President Snow stiffens beside him, and a feeling of dread pools in the pit of his stomach.

“Tell me what is happening, Ivory.” The president’s voice was silky smooth and terrifyingly calm.

“I-… President, I-I don’t know. He seems to be… fighting it.”

The boy suddenly sits up. His eyes are open and wild with fear, but not the right kind. And definitely not enough of it.

Motioning towards an Avox, the president says, “See to it that Mr. Mellark gets a triple dosage of the venom. Show him the footage we have of the bombs on Twelve. And get more torture weapons ready.” President Snow’s voice rings with authority and calmness.

On the bed, the boy whispers, “Katniss… Katniss…”

President Snow purses his lips. “Ivory, I’m very displeased with how today played out.”

Octavian bows his head. “I’m sorry, President Snow. Please lay upon me whatever punishment you may see fit. I’ll make sure something like this will not happen again.”

“Thanks, but It won’t be necessary. In fact, you won’t be necessary.” He smiles sinisterly, and chills run down Octavian’s back. “How… attached are you to your tongue?”


End file.
